Pioneering surgeon Jayant Vaidya introduces Intraoperative Radiotherapy (IORT) at The Princess Grace Hospital
The renowned pioneer of Intraoperative Radiotherapy, (IORT), breast surgeon Mr Jayant Vaidya, a member of the breast care team at The Princess Grace Hospital in central London is launching the IORT service at the hospital in the Autumn. Mr Vaidya developed IORT – a process whereby a single dose of radiotherapy is delivered directly into the breast following the removal of a tumour and before the completion of the operation – in the late 1990s together with a distinguished team of cancer specialists, at University College Hospital London along with Professor Michael Baum and Professor Jeffrey Tobias. He is a Reader in breast surgery and oncology at University College London. His NHS practice is at Whittington Hospital, The Royal Free and UCL Hospitals. The IORT process avoids women having repetitive radiotherapy sessions over a three to six weeks period, some weeks after their operation. This novel approach, uses an Intrabeam® radiotherapy machine which was developed by Mr Vaidya and the UCH team in collaboration with Carl Zeiss. The procedure is called TARGeted Intraoperative radiotherapy (TARGIT). In recent years the procedure has been trialled by breast cancer teams around the world. The Princess Grace hospital is the first private hospital in the UK to acquire the Intrabeam® machine. “The results of a large multicentre trial from 28 centres around the world show that the success rates of IORT at 4 years are similar to conventional radiotherapy but women who have been treated this way have all said they are pleased to have this treatment rather than face the inconvenience and anxiety of repeated trips to hospital for radiotherapy,” said Mr Vaidaya. “We have been extremely cautious about evaluating this procedure and we are very pleased with the results. So I am delighted that we are now introducing this operation at The Princess Grace Hospital and in-so-doing, giving women a choice of treatments, as well as a chance to participate in cutting edge research” he said. The Chief Executive Officer of The Princess Grace, Charlotte Espie, said she was delighted that Mr Vaidya, a member of the hospital’s renowned breastcare team will be offering this treatment. “Over many years the breastcare service at The Princess Grace has been recognised as world class and to have a pioneer such as Mr Vaidya amongst us and to be able to give women a wider choice of treatment is tremendous,” she said. The new procedure will be available at The Princess Grace Hospital from October. For more patient information on IORT, please contact 0207 935 9133. Cancer treatment news : 2 October 2011
